For my family (2 adults, 2 kids over age 9, mix of TS and CS dining but no character meals), the Dining Plan would be a colossal waste of money. On our most recent trip to WDW in February 2020, we spent 33% LESS by paying out-of pocket. This is due to a combination of us not choosing to eat as the DDP would want us to (e.g., we prefer more TS meals and fewer CS meals, we can't eat 2 snacks per person per day, and we sometimes like to order combinations of appetizers instead of an entree.)
Specifically, eating wherever we wanted, and ordering whatever we wanted without regard to price (meaning sometimes we had the most expensive entrees and sometimes we didn't), over our 7-day/6-night trip we enjoyed: (1) 7 Table Service meals for 4, including entrees and fountain drinks along with some appetizers, desserts, alcohol and specialty beverages; (2) 1 Signature TS for 2, with entrees and appetizers; (3) 5 CS meals for 4, with entrees and beverages; (4) 1 CS meal for 2, with entrees and specialty beverages; (5) 2 Lounge visits with drinks and/or apps for 2, and (6) 15 snacks. We spent (including TS tips)
$1,504.
The DDP would have cost us $
2,245 ($1,872 DDP cost + $225 in non-covered TS meals + $80 in Lounge charges + $68 in non-DDP-covered appetizers), and would have resulted in our “wasting” 2 CS credits and 9 snack credits as well as the 4 refillable mugs which we wouldn't have used. As a result, we
saved over $721, or 33%, by paying out-of-pocket instead of using the DDP. (In fact, we saved even more than that, as my DDP total doesn't include TS tips -- I just got tired of doing the math.)
Obviously, the DDP isn't one-size-fits-all, but that's how it shook out for us.
More info. here if you want to see where we ate and what kinds of things we ordered:
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...-february-break-adventure.963612/post-9083242